


Meeting the Family

by Emma_S18



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: AvaLance, Christmas, F/F, Family Feels, Family Reunions, First Meetings, Jealous Ava Sharpe, Meet the Family, Not Everything Goes As Planned, Overprotective Oliver Queen, Unexpected Visitors
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-30
Updated: 2019-01-06
Packaged: 2019-09-30 16:19:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17227307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emma_S18/pseuds/Emma_S18
Summary: Ava goes with Sara to team Arrow's Christmas party. There she meets Sara's family, but not everything goes as planned.





	1. Chapter 1

They had spent the whole day celebrating Christmas with the Legends. Now, Sara and Ava were getting ready for Team Arrow's Christmas Party. A few days prior, Sara had received an invitation from Oliver and the blonde had immediately run to Ava to ask her to join. The Time Bureau Director, not able to resist her girlfriend's excited smile, had agreed to go with her. Now, Ava was second-guessing that decision. "Are you sure this is a good idea? Don't you want to spend time with them and introduce me some other time?" She asked unsurely. 

Sara rolled her eyes. They'd had this conversation more than a few times already that day. "I'm sure they'll love you. Besides, today's my birthday too and I want to spend it with you too." Ava nodded. There was nothing she could do to argue against that. She also wanted to spend Sara's birthday with her, but it was meeting so many new people that had her nervous. They weren't some random people either. They were Sara's childhood friends, basically the only family she had left. What if they thought she wasn't good enough for her? She bit her lip.

"Relax," Sara spoke softly. She placed her arms around the taller woman's neck. "They will love you." 

Ava shook her head. "You can't be sure of that," she argued. 

"Actually, I can," Sara said confidently. "Felicity is as much of a nerd as you are. You two will get along great. Diggle doesn't really dislike anyone, as far as I know. Thea is like a little sister to me. We're very similar, so if I like you, which you know I do, then she'll like you. Lastly, Oliver can be a little overprotective, but he just wants me to be happy. Honestly, I've never been as happy as when I'm with you, so there shouldn't be a problem there." She shrugged, pecked her girlfriend's lips and went back to getting ready. 

Ava sighed. "Fine, but we should leave soon if we want to be on time." She put on her blazer and turned to look at her beautiful girlfriend. 

Sara laughed at her last statement. "You do realize who you're talking to, right? We're meeting the people who have known me my whole life. I'm pretty sure they know by now that I'm always late for everything." 

"Not everything," Ava frowned, shaking her head. 

"I was early for our first date, but that's only because I was trying to impress you. Not that that changed a lot in the end," Sara said casually.

"I appreciated it," Ava said, "At least until you ditched me before dessert arrived." 

Sara groaned. "Are we having that argument again?" 

Ava shook her head. "God, no! I'm just happy that everything worked out in the end." She looked at her girlfriend, who was finally ready, with wide eyes. "You look great. Are you sure we have to go?" 

"Yes," Sara chuckled. Then her face turned serious. "Unless you really don't want to go. You know I'd never force you into something you aren't ready for. If this makes you uncomfortable, I can always go alone," she paused a second, "or not at all." 

Ava sighed. "No, no. I'd never expect you to ditch your family for me. I'm just nervous, that's all." 

"Okay," Sara smiled. "You don't have to be nervous. I'll be beside you all night. If at any time you want to leave, you just have to say so." The two blondes shared a slow, loving kiss. 

* * *

 

Felicity was the first to notice the blondes' arrival. She shrieked and ran towards them, throwing herself into Sara's arms. "Oh my god, Sara! It's so good to see you. Happy birthday," she spoke quickly. If looks could kill, Ava would have killed her. Especially since their hug lasted a little longer than necessary. 

When the two pulled away, Sara noticed the look on her love's face and grabbed her hand reassuringly, before turning back to Felicity. "It's great to see you too, Felicity." She smiled widely. To tease her girlfriend she added, "You're still cute." This caused Ava to clench her fists, thus squeezing Sara's hand, and both other blondes' to blush. Sara chuckled at the reaction. "Felicity, this is Ava, my girlfriend." she introduced, before turning to the Director, "Aves, this is Felicity. Tech genius and Oliver's wife." After the introduction, Ava visibly relaxed. 

"Why don't you let our guests enter, before you tackle the birthday girl with hugs" Oliver jokingly told his wife as he joined the three blondes at the door. He pulled Sara inside and into a strong hug. "I'm glad you're here, Sara. Happy birthday." 

Sara smiled. "Good to see you too, Ollie. I'd like you to meet my girlfriend." She gestured to the woman standing awkwardly beside her.

"Nice to meet you, Mr Queen." Ava spoke nervously. She held out her hand for him to shake. "I'm Ava Sharpe. Director of the Time Bureau." 

Oliver pushed away her hand and pulled her into a hug. "Please, call me Oliver," he said. "Welcome to our Christmas Party. I'd love to get to know you better." 

The four of them walked into the living room. Sara stopped in the doorway, making Ava almost collide with her. "Oh," she said, eyes widely fixated on her sister's look alike. She soon recovered from her shook and continued into the room to greet the others. The conversation was starting to flow naturally when it was interrupted by tiny feet running down the stairs.

Before either of the parents could scold the child for running, the little kid let out an excited "Sara!" before running up to her and jumping into her arms. 

"Hey, kid!" Sara smiled widely. "You've gotten bigger since the last time I saw you," she told him. 

 "Sara, you've got to see what Dad has taught me," he said, pulling the Captain to her feet. He showed her some fighting moves he'd learned, which Sara easily deflected. 

"No fighting in the house," Felicity scolded. She then turned to Oliver. "I thought we had agreed that he wouldn't learn to fight until he was older," she whispered so only he could hear.

Oliver shrugged. "Apparently, Sara had taught him some moves whilest she was here last time," he told her as if that was the best excuse. 

Meanwhile, Sara was correcting young William on some of his poses and teaching him a new kick. "Oh," Ava commented. "Have you finally found someone your height to spar with?" She teased her girlfriend, making the whole room laugh. 

"I like her," Thea commented on that. 

Sara just rolled her eyes. "I'm not that small," she told the Director with an unimpressed look, then turned to Thea and told her: "and you aren't taller than me, so don't even try." Her attention was returned to her young student as they playfully continued to spar. 

Ava couldn't take her eyes off of them. At least not until she was distracted by Oliver's voice beside her. "She's great with him," he told her, smiling. Then turned to face her. "Can we talk for a second." The taller blonde nodded and focussed her attention on her girlfriend's ex. "As you probably know Sara's been through a lot. I just want to make sure that you know how great she is." 

"I know," Ava interjected. "Sara's the best person I've ever met. She's caring and strong, smart, beautiful and loving." You could practically see the hearts in Ava's eyes as she talked about the Waverider's Captain. 

"Exactly," Oliver agreed. "She's great at caring for others, but herself not so much. She's great at putting up a wall to protect herself, but she needs help understanding that she deserves to be loved, just like Felicity does for me." He shoots his wife a loving smile at that. "I just want her to be happy." 

Ava nodded understandingly. "That's what I want too," she confirmed. "I've noticed that she doesn't think she deserves happiness," she says cringing as the statement brings back memories of their break up. "But she won't get rid of me that easily. I love her." She smiles. "She's the only one for me.  I want her to know that she's my everything." Ava confessed.

Oliver smiled and nodded. "That's great, Ava. I can tell that you only want the best for Sara." A serious look on his face, he added, "But if you hurt her, I'll make sure you'll regret it." 

Seemingly unphased by the thread, Ava nodded her head. "Good, I'd deserve it." 

"Are you done interrogating my girlfriend?" Sara asked Oliver, sitting down on Ava's lap.

Oliver chuckled and shook his head. "What are you going to do if I say no?" he teased.

Sara raised an eyebrow. "You do remember that I can beat your ass, right? Or do you want to relive the embarrassment of our last sparring match?" 

"Sara," Felicity said, "will you please stop trying to instigate fights inside the apartment."

"As if you don't enjoy watching Ollie and I spar," Sara teased, causing the other woman to blush bright red and Oliver and Sara to laugh. Ava wrapped her arms around the shorter woman and pulled her a little closer to herself. "Babe," Sara told her quietly, "you're jealousy is showing." 

"You enjoy making them blush, don't you, Sara?" Thea commented, joining into the conversation. 

Sara shrugged her shoulders innocently, but the smirk on her face betrayed her. "What can I say. It's cute." She turned and pecked her girlfriend's lips. 

"Not that I know of," responded Felicity. 

As the door opened everyone looked on in shock, except Ava who didn't understand what was going on. "Sara," the unexpected guest spoke. The short blonde just sat there, eyes wide, mouth opening and closing like a fish, not knowing what to say. Tears sprang to her eyes and her hands flew to her mouth. She didn't know what else to do.  

 


	2. Chapter 2

_As the door opened everyone looked on in shock, except Ava who didn't understand what was going on. "Sara," the unexpected guest spoke. The short blonde just sat there, eyes wide, mouth opening and closing like a fish, not knowing what to say. Tears sprang to her eyes and her hands flew to her mouth. She didn't know what else to do._

* * *

"I," Sara tried to say, "I," she tried again, but she didn't know what she was going to say. She never expected to see her here today. To be honest, she didn't even know if she was alive and free. A single tear ran down her cheek at the thought. 

"Happy birthday," the woman spoke as she stepped closer to the blonde, ignoring everyone else in the room. "It's been a while since we last met," she continued, "I heard you were in town and I needed to make sure you were alright." She explained her presence. 

When the other woman reached her, Sara stood up and silently pulled her into a tight hug. "I've missed you too, beloved," the brunette whispered gently. Neither one of them was ready to let go of each other. They sprang apart though when, close behind Sara, someone cleared their throat. The blonde turned around to scold whoever had interrupted their moment. 

Coming face to face with Ava, Sara's eyes widened. "Oh," was all she said as if she'd forgotten that the Director was even there or anyone else for that matter. For a second, it'd just been the two of them again, her and Nyssa, as if nothing had changed. But they had. A lot of things had changed in the last few years. The Captain blushed and awkwardly looked between the blonde and the brunette. 

"Aren't you going to introduce us, beloved?" Nyssa asked, putting her arm around the shorter woman's waste. 

"Ah, yes," Sara said awkwardly. "Ava, this is Nyssa," she told the blonde, then turned to face the brunette. "Nyssa, this is Ava." 

Ava held out her hand towards Nyssa. "Director Ava Sharpe, head of the Time Bureau. Also, Sara's girlfriend." Her tone was cold and pointed, especially on the last part. 

"Ah," Nyssa spoke understandingly and dropped her arm from around Sara. The two shook hands, both squeezing a little tighter than necessary. "Nyssa Al Ghul, head of the League of Assassins." Her eyes locked on the taller blonde, almost fixating her. 

Sara frowned, "I thought you disbanded the League?" she asked confused. 

"Not all of it," Nyssa answered casually. "So, what else has changed since the last time we met?" she inquired. 

The Captain rolled her eyes. "You're the one that told me to leave. You told me to move on with my life." A serious look filled her face. "I didn't even know if you were still alive." 

Sara had always been the only person to see through Nyssa's unphased attitude. "You should know I'm not that easy to kill." She threw Ava a meaningful look.

Thea approached the trio, trying to release some of the uncomfortable tension coursing through the room. "Nyssa, it's great to see you again." She grabbed the brunette's attention. "Any particular reason you're in town?" 

The brunette smiled at the younger Queen sibling. "Great to see you again, Thea. Unfortunately, I have reason to believe that our mission together hasn't completely been accomplished." 

"What mission?" Sara asked curiously, intrigued by this newfound friendship between her first love and the woman she considered as her younger sister.

"A little while ago, Thea and Roy helped me on my mission to destroy the Lazarus Pits. I have recently come upon an enemy that gave me a reason to believe there could be another." Nyssa explained, making Sara shudder at the memory of her resurrection and it's consequences.  

"If you need any help destroying it, I'm in," Sara said determinedly. 

"Sara?!" Ava almost shouted incredulously. "You can't be serious?" Her eyes were wide as she stared at her girlfriend. 

"Of course, I am," Sara responded. "You have no idea how dangerous that thing is. If I have a chance to stop anyone from using it, you can bet I will do it."  There was no changing her mind, that much was clear.

Nyssa smirked. "Great, we'll leave tomorrow."

"Great," Ava's voice dripped with sarcasm. "If she's going, I'm going." 

Nyssa opened her mouth to comment but was pulled aside by Sara. "She's coming with," she said, leaving no place for argument. 

"I don't think that's a good idea, beloved. You know how dangerous missions like these can be. Wouldn't want little miss Director to get hurt." Nyssa faked concern. "And we won't have time to babysit her." 

Sara rolled her eyes. "She doesn't need a babysitter, trust me, Ava can take care of herself."

"She doesn't have the training." Nyssa tried again.

"Maybe not by the League, but she's a damn good fighter. She almost has me beat," Sara said proudly.

Nyssa rolled her eyes. "Maybe you have gotten soft. It has been a while since you trained properly." 

"You want to test that theory?" Sara challenged, raising an eyebrow. 

Nyssa smiled lovingly at her. "You've always been impulsive, but you never had me beat. I could go for a decent sparring some time if you're up for getting your ass kicked, as you'd say." Sara nodded in agreement. "But not right now," Nyssa insisted, "right now, you are celebrating your birthday. Speaking of which," she pulled a small present out of her pocket. "Happy Birthday, beloved." 

"You didn't have to," Sara told her as she unwrapped to paper to find a jewelry box. 

Nyssa shrugged innocently. "I saw it and thought of you. I couldn't just leave it there."

Sara opened the box carefully and gasped. Inside was a necklace of a small bird, a Canary. "It's beautiful, Nyssa." She pulled the necklace out of its box to analyze it more closely. "Thank you,' she told her sincerely. She held it up, silently asking the brunette to help her put it on. The Head of the League took the fragile piece of jewelry and stepped behind the blonde. Gently, she pushed the locks of blonde hair over the shorter woman's shoulder, before fastening the chain around her neck. 

The two faced each other once more and locked eyes. They just stood there, looking at each other, for a moment. But all moments pass and the blonde cleared her throat. "We should go back in there." 

"You go and enjoy your night," Nyssa told her. "I'll see you and miss Uptight tomorrow." 

"Uptight, huh?" Sara asked smirking, "I guess, I have a type then." 

Nyssa frowned. "She and I are nothing alike," she disagreed. 

Sara shook her head amused. "You're both strong, powerful, slightly uptight women. Both very determined and focused on the job. You both love fiercely and have a tendency to get jealous," Sara listed, "No, I guess the two of you really aren't alike." She said sarcastically. 

After that, the two of them said their goodbye's for the night and Sara went to rejoin the others. As soon as her eyes locked onto Ava's unimpressed ones, she knew she'd have some explaining to do. 


	3. Chapter 3

It was as if the rest of the group feel the sudden tension in the room and left the two blondes to talk privately. "Ava, I can explain," Sara said as soon as it was just the two of them. 

Ava sighed and shook her head. "Explain what, Sara? You left me to go talk to the only person you've ever had a serious relationship with." She shook her head. "How am I supposed to feel about that?" 

Sara looked down. She timidly, which was completely unlike her, took a step closer to her girlfriend. "You're supposed to trust me," she tried. "I love you, Ava, and I'd never betray that." She looked anywhere but into Ava's eyes. "I will always have feelings for Nyssa," she finally looked into the other blonde's hurt eyes, "but it'll never be anything like what I feel for you." With those final words, she placed her hands on Ava's cheeks, looking so deep into her eyes as if she wanted to show her the deepest parts of her soul. 

"I believe you," Ava spoke truthfully. "I do trust you, Sara, and I love you too, so much." She gently grabbed Sara's wrists to keep her hands where they were, enjoying the comfort it brought her. "I'm sorry for acting like a jealous, insecure maniac."  

"Don't worry about it," Sara chuckled, "I like knowing that you care so much about our relationship." She placed the gentlest of kisses on Ava's lips. 

"So," Ava started, her curiosity getting the best of her, "What'd you two talk about anyway?"

Sara rolled her eyes. "I was defending you." she shrugged. "Nyssa thought this mission would be too dangerous for you, so I explained that you could handle yourself." 

"Hm," Ava nodded, a sparkle in her eye. "I could always show her," she joked, kind of. 

"Yeah, no," Sara shook her head. "You're a great fighter, but you couldn't beat me and certainly not her." 

Ava narrowed her eyes. "If I remember correctly, we were on equal level last time we sparred, ms Lance." 

"Exactly," Sara exclaimed, "Nyssa was raised to take over the League of Assassins. She was probably at our skill level by the age of ten." Ava scoffed. "Either way, I'm sure we'll have the opportunity to spar during the mission." Excitement filled the shorter blonde, "I've gotten a lot better since the last time we sparred, with a second round in the League and all, maybe if you and I work together we could have her beat." 

Ava rolled her eyes at Sara's childish excitement. "Enough about Nyssa and the mission. That's something for tomorrow." She stepped closer to Sara, "Right now, my love, we should be celebrating your birthday." She kissed the other woman deeply. 

"I'm loving this idea," Sara smirked, leaning in for another kiss. "Let's take this home," she suggested.

Ava pulled away. "As much as I'd love to do that, I think your friends would like to celebrate with you too. We can continue this later." Contradicting her last statement the Director leaned back in for another long kiss, before detaching herself from her girlfriend so they could find the group. 

The group went back to celebrating Sara's birthday as if it'd never been interrupted. Soon, Oliver and Felicity brought out a beautiful birthday cake covered with candles as the group sang for their friend. After eating it, Felicity sat Sara down and handed her a present. The birthday girl opened it and frowned, picking up the short metal stick, before looking up at her friend confused. 

"It's a bo staff," she explained, pushing a button to make it extend. "It's made out of the same material as Ray's suit, so it's basically unbreakable. You can split it into two pieces, like your other one,  and it works as a shield against magic." 

Sara's eyes widened during the explanation. "Wow," she said, "this is amazing! Thanks, Felicity!" She pulled her genius friend into a tight hug.

"My turn!" An excited Thea exclaimed as she handed the blonde another gift. Sara chuckled at the enthusiasm and quickly opened it up. Inside a wooden box was a set of throwing knives engraved with a canary. Sara smiled and happily thanked the woman she considered her younger sister. 

Next was Earth-2 Laurel's present. She shrugged a bit awkwardly as she handed her doppelganger's sister the wrapped box. Inside was a notebook. Sara carefully opened it and gasped, tears filling her eyes. The first few pages were filled with pictures of Sara and her sister, some from when they were kids, others more recent. The rest of the notebook was filled like a diary of Laurel Lance but addressed to Sara. All entries were dated, starting from the day she died, continuing after her resurrection and when she joined the Legends up until the day she died. She looked up questioningly at her sister's lookalike, a tear rolling down her cheek. "I found it in her room and I thought you might like it," she shrugged. "I know I would have liked to have something like that from my sister." 

Sara nodded in understanding and pulled a surprised Laurel into a hug. "Thank you so much," she said. "Will you tell me about her? Your sister?" she then asked. 

Laurel bit her lip. "I'd like that, but not today. Today we're celebrating you. And if I tell you about her, you could tell me more about yours?" The Captain of the Legends agreed.

She wiped the stray tear away as the next person, the older Queen sibling, stepped forward with her next present. "Happy birthday, Sara," he said as he handed it over. Inside were a set of keys. "They're the keys to the Queen Beach House. Everything has been arranged with your team," he then turned to Ava, "and your work," then turned back to Sara. "When this mission is over, you and Ava are taking the private jet and having a relaxing, two-week holiday at the beach house." As he hugged the younger girl, he whispered to her. "You deserve to be happy, Sara." 

The last person to give Sara a birthday present was the love of her life. Ava handed Sara three separately wrapped gifts. The first turned out to also be a romantic dinner for two. "Because we deserve an uninterrupted date night once in a while," was Ava's explanation. The second, a Time Courrier, "So you can come visit your friends and family whenever you want. And, you know, me," Ava said blushing. The last one was another set of keys, to which Ava added, "So you always have a place to come home to." 

_Home_ , Sara thought, smiling. She hadn't had one of those since she stepped foot on the Gambit. But for Sara, home wasn't a place. Home was Ava, being with her and loving her. Gratefully, she kissed the taller woman and hugged her. She couldn't be more happy or more in love then she felt right now. 

For Sara, this was the best birthday she could remember. Not because of the presents, but because she was spending it with the people she cared about most. As much as she still felt like she didn't deserve this most of the time, she vowed to enjoy every second of it, as she knew better than anyone else how fast things could change. 


End file.
